March 31, 2022 at 12:13 p.m.
2020 Minocqua OWI homicide case headed for trial
2020 Minocqua OWI homicide case headed for trial
At a pre-trial conference March 23, Oneida County district attorney Mike Schiek advised circuit judge Patrick O'Melia that as far as his office is concerned the Christopher A. Gore case is still on for trial. He suggested a brief status conference or another pre-trial be scheduled for the end of June to check on the status of the case, especially if additional motions are filed.
Defense attorney Dennis Melowski disagreed with that plan.
"I'm wondering if having a pre-trial conference closer to the jury trial might be more productive, judge," Melowski said.
Schiek noted that to his knowledge, all discovery in the case had been turned over to Melowski.
"There's nothing to my knowledge," Melowski replied. "That's the only thing that I can think of, off the top of my head. I'm thinking something closer to September of October would be more productive."
O'Melia then scheduled a final pre-trial conference for Sept. 20. The jury trial is scheduled for Dec. 6-8.
According to court documents and testimony, Gore and a passenger were traveling westbound on State Highway 70 in Minocqua on July 12, 2020 when their vehicle entered a ditch, fish-tailed and struck a driveway embankment. The vehicle rolled several times and the passenger, a 47-year-old man, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Charges. including homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle and homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle with a prohibited blood alcohol concentration, were filed against Gore on Sept. 9, 2020.
A preliminary hearing in the case was held in Nov. 13, 2020 at which time Minocqua police officer Devon Gaszak relayed his observations from the moment he arrived on scene through Gore's transport to the hospital by ambulance. He testified that he detected the odor of intoxicants coming from Gore. However, Gore could not be put through field sobriety tests due to his injuries.
Lt. Jason Benbenek of the Minocqua Police Department testified he communicated with Gore at the hospital and secured the blood sample, the results of which showed Gore had a blood alcohol level of .239.
In April 2021, Gore's attorney Dennis Melowski filed a motion arguing that the blood test results should be deemed inadmissible due to a flaw in the "informing the accused" form Benbenek read to Gore before the sample was taken and because Gore's injuries left him unable to give informed consent.
In support of this argument Melowski cited State v. Blackman, a 2017 Wisconsin Supreme Court decision where the justices determined the wording of the "informing the accused" form (ITAF) misstates the current status of the law.
Last June, O'Melia held a hearing on Melowski's motion at which time the defense attorney reiterated his argument that the circumstances in Gore's case are "on point' with the Blackman case and thus Gore's blood test should be suppressed as Blackman's was.
Assistant district attorney Jillian Pfeifer strongly disagreed.
Pfeifer argued there is a clear distinction between the Blackman case and Gore's situation in that the officers investigating the Gore accident had "probable cause" to believe that Gore was under the influence of intoxicants whereas the investigating officer in the Blackman case testified there was no indication whatsoever that Blackman had consumed alcohol before his vehicle collided with a bicyclist in Fond du Lac County in 2013.
On Sept. 2, O'Melia filed a written decision and order denying the motion to suppress. Melowski appealed that decision to the Third District Court of Appeals. The appeals court denied the petition in January.
If convicted of the OWI homicide charge, Gore could be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison with a "presumptive mandatory minimum" of five years. He is free on a $25,000 signature bond.
Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at [email protected].
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